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Episcopal Church names 1st woman leader

Posted on: Monday, 19 June 2006, 07:00 CDT

By Jim Leckrone

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - The U.S. Episcopal Church chose Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on Sunday as its first woman leader, a move unprecedented in the Anglican church and one likely to produce more turmoil in a faith divided over the ordination of an openly gay bishop.

Her election came 30 years after the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, approved the ordination of women to the priesthood.

The selection seemed likely to provoke controversy, since most other Anglican communities, including the Church of England, do not allow women bishops.

"It will be a great adventure," said Jefferts Schori, who holds degrees in biology and oceanography and taught religious studies at Oregon State University before her 1994 ordination.

Asked at a news briefing if her selection was designed to "send a message" to the wider Anglican community upset with the U.S. church, she said, "God welcomes all. Those who agree and disagree." She promised to "bend over backwards" to reconcile with those in the American church who are upset with its current direction.

But the Rev. David Anderson, president of the conservative American Anglican Council, criticized her selection saying she lacked experience. In terms of the divisions in the church, he added, "mom and pop are leaving" already.

Jefferts Schori was elected to succeed Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, who has led the church for nearly nine years, by bishops attending its triennial convention.

A majority of U.S. bishops backed the consecration of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay bishop in more than 450 years of Anglican history, when the church last met in convention three years ago.

Jefferts Schori was narrowly elected from a field of several candidates after five ballots and was the front-runner from the start of voting, church officials said.

Coming in second was the Rev. Henry Parsley, bishop of the diocese of Alabama, who opposed the elevation of Robinson three years ago.

GAYS PRAISE ELECTION

Jefferts Schori, 52, is the bishop of the Diocese of Nevada. She will be installed at a ceremony in Washington's National Cathedral later this year.

Her selection won immediate praise from Integrity USA, an organization representing Episcopalian gays.

"We look forward to continuing the process of working closely with the presiding bishop toward the full inclusion of the gay and lesbian faithful in the Body of Christ," said the Rev. Susan Russell, head of the group. "The historic election ... is something for us and the whole church to celebrate."

How to address fallout from the Robinson consecration has dominated the convention.

The gathering must still act on proposals that would answer concerns raised by a report commissioned by the archbishop of Canterbury. That report advised the church to apologize for the Robinson consecration, promise not to elevate any more gays in same-sex relationships to the episcopate and take a stand against the blessing of same-sex unions.

In the worldwide Anglican church women are bishops only in Canada, the United States and New Zealand. The Robinson issue has been particularly criticized in Africa where the church has a large and growing membership and where homosexuality is often taboo.

The 77-million-member worldwide Anglican Communion is a broad grouping of churches across 164 countries always run by consensus.

Source: REUTERS

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